Father Kevin A. Codd

David and Saul: Love Your Enemies (7th Sunday of Ordinary Time-C)

The story of  jealous Saul's pursuit of David with the intention of killing him is one of the great stories of the Hebrew Scriptures. It is a great set-up for today's Gospel passage on loving our enemies. We can learn a lot from young David on this score!

Woe Betide You (6th Sunday of Ordinary Time-C)

(Because of a covid scare, I was not able to deliver the homily this weekend at the Iglesia San Francisco in Cuenca, but it was all ready to go! So here is a sit-down-at-the-dining-room-table version. In this unusual format, it went longer than a "real" homily in church...sorry!)

"Woe betide you!" was Sister Michael Mary's preferred way to control her classroom full of third-graders. She also offered plenty of "God bless you's" along the way. Her teaching method was not unlike that of Jesus as we see in today's gospel passage. Yet Jesus was doing so much more! He was throwing a wrench into the social order of his time...and the ripple effects of that wrench wash up on our shores to this very day...even the shores of Sister Michael Mary and her third-graders!

The Power of The Word (5th Sunday of Ordinary Time-C)

Jesus' powerful words and he himself as The Word, in today's gospel give us an opportunity to go deeper into the mystery of the powerful, creating Word that is Jesus.

Why So Mad? (4th Sunday of Ordinary Time-C)

Luke's story of Jesus' visit to his hometown, Nazareth, picks up this Sunday where it left off last Sunday. Part Two of the drama leaves us scratching our heads! What just happened here...and WHY? 

Well Begun, Well Done (3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time-C)

2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time-C, Cana, 2022-01-16

Jesus didn't "need" to make that much water into that much wine; he did it for the joy of it. In doing so, he was only following the way of the Creator in the lavishly generous manner in which the universe and the earth and we ourselves were created. 

”You are my beloved son...” (Baptism of the Lord-C, 2022-01-09)

That Star! (Epiphany-C)

Matthew's final Nativity story is a complicated drama with an abundance of characters, good and bad. One "character" worthy of special attention is that extraordinary Star that leads the Magi to Bethlehem. What manner of Star is this? It is, when all is said and done, a Holy Spirit Star...

What Makes A Family ”Holy” (Holy Family-C)

On the Sunday following Christmas, the Church is inspired by the image of the Holy Family, one that may not always be so close to the realities of our own families with all their tensions, troubles, and "dysfunctions". Jesus himself only once holds up a family as "holy" in his teaching, and it is doozy! The story of the loving father and his two sons found in Luke 15 does show us what it takes to make a family "holy". 

Christmas 2021: On Angels and Shepherds

Luke's version of the Nativity story has the angel announcing the Savior's birth to shepherds, but why not announce to the priests of the Temple, those who had spent their lives studying the Scriptures to determine when and how the Savior might come. Luke pinpoints the shepherds in this story looking ahead to the stories of Jesus' adult life. 

A few words in Spanish added at the end...